The weather was better for sure. For me, that doesn't mean much at all. Even with lower humidity, I still suffer. Part of the issue here is that the Red Dot Trail doesn't have a lot of shade. My shorts were completely soaked by the top of the first summit.
I knew it was going to be a struggle when I went to take some pictures by the beach. I jogged up some stairs and didn't have it. I don't think I fueled well enough during lunch. I felt crappy from the start.
I ran the usual early part. Then, I hiked the first rocky section. I knew running it at all wasn't a good idea when I already felt kind of depleted. However, I did try to hike it kind of hard. That didn't work out great.
There were some nasty storms in that area the other night. I guess they dumped a lot of rain. There were streams where I don't remember ever seeing streams before. My feet got quite wet.
I hiked up and up and up. I know this trail so well by now. I just kept pressing on. The super technical boulder section was even wet and tough to navigate. I didn't see many hikers in the some too, with my speed hiking. I got to the top and took my usual photo.
beginning, but there were quite a few as I climbed. I passed
The Blue Trail ridge section was a mix of running and hiking. I caught some hikers right as it was descending. I passed them running and they said, "good for you." I picked my way down. I didn't feel great or terrible at this point. I didn't want to get injured on the rocks.
The water was running wild when I got to the waterfall at the bottom. Even with my speed hiking up, I was slower than normal, thanks to the heat and/or lack of proper nutrition. My run down was slower too and it was a few minutes under an hour when I finished the first loop.I dried off a bit at the car. I spent a few minutes there. I figured that I might as well just get going. It was going to be an ugly loop 2.
I hiked even some of the early parts that I often run. I managed to avoid the bees around the one tree for a second time. I didn't see much of anything on these loops. I sluggishly picked my way up the mountain. I barely ran at all. It was basically a hike.
I took a little more time than usual at the top. I was going slow anyway. I also wasn't going to finish under 2 hours. I mostly hiked the ridge.
I was glad to finally be descending the Blue Trail. I didn't feel any worse than the first loop at least. I went down slowly and controlled. It would be nice to be able to hammer it a little, but I had to listen to my body. I had no nutrition with me either, so I couldn't recover.Most people were gone by now. I did see a few hikers though. I saw these cute little kids with their hiking gear on at the bottom. I finished up and was very happy to be done. I finished two loops, even if they weren't overly productive. I figure that I've now done about 30,000 feet of gain and the same loss just on Tammany loops alone.
Tomorrow, I hope to run again. It should be kind of easy. Maybe I'll go to South Mountain. I should switch it up sometime and go to Walking Purchase Park. I haven't been there in awhile. I could also just go to another section of the AT. I'm leaning that way now actually.
7.10 miles - 2:08:38 (18:07 pace) 2373 feet of elevation gain
Mt. Tammany Summits 23 and 24 for 2015
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